Author: Dick Mangrum

Rev. Hoyt Franklin Stephens, 81, died Wednesday at Morningside Assisted Living in Seneca. He was the widower of Evelyn Frady Stephens. The funeral will be 1 pm Friday from the Chapel of Sandifer Funeral Home. Entombment follows in Heritage Memorial Gardens. Family members are at their homes. In place of flowers, donations may be made to Pruitt Hospice, 102 East […]

Magistrate Blake Norton ruled this month that three video game machines in Seneca meet the state’s definition of gambling machines and, pending an appeal period, has ordered their destruction. The machines were seized by the state Law Enforcement Division January 12 at Seneca Lanes on the 123 By-Pass and brought to the magistrate’s office in Walhalla for his examination. The […]

The town of West Union has a candidate for its 2016 election. Main Street resident David Scealf qualified yesterday with the office of Oconee Registration and Elections to run for one of four available council seats in the April 5 election. The filing deadline to run for mayor and council is one week from today—noon Friday, February 5.

Two Georgia residents have been implicated in fraudulent financial transaction crimes last summer in Oconee County. One of the two persons was arrested Wednesday in Spartanburg, and the Oconee Sheriff’s Office has issued an alert for the second. Auburn, Georgia resident Alexander Kenneth Abbott is accused of criminally receiving goods after a complaint that fraudulent charges were made August 5 […]

A second round of utility upgrades in a former Walhalla mill area is nearly finished, and the public will have a chance to let government know about how well the work went. Walhalla has set aside 2 o’clock Monday afternoon, February 22 at City Hall to receive feedback directly from the public. The hearing will be conducted by Dirk Reis, […]

An 8th grader at West-Oak Middle School has won a berth on the All-State Orchestra. Daniel Rochester, who plays the viola, earned a third chair during recent tryouts for the orchestra. The tryouts can be trying, but Daniel worked hard to learn and prepare the music for the auditions. He will perform with other students of strings next month at […]

The next few weeks are likely to dictate the fate for Michelin’s purchase-option arrangement with Oconee’s Golden Corner Commerce Park at Fair Play. The purchase-option expires in a few weeks, and county officials expect to hear—one way or the other—whether the Michelin company will follow through with a commitment to build a distribution center. Richard Blackwell, chief economic recruiter for […]

The first week of February will be a week for important business for the Oconee County Council. At council’s regular meeting at 6 Tuesday night, a variety of business awaits the five-member panel that sets policy for county government. Those matters include the annual financial report from the county’s outside auditors and a presentation by Charles Lutz on Senate Bill […]

The first stakeholders’ meeting for a plan to remove bacteria from the creeks of Upstate South Carolina takes place next month in Central. Clemson cooperative Extension is among one dozen partners at work on the “Twelve Mile, Eighteen Mile and Golden Creek Watershed Plan.” The goal is to clean up bacteria pollution in those watercourses. The public is encouraged to […]

Just exactly what was Dabo Swinney doing last night in Westminster? Was he doing the ‘Dab’? He was there coaching his son’s recreation basketball team. Kris Butts with details on his morning sports show.